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Boeing (NYSE:BA) said Friday it was eliminated by the U.S. Air Force from the competition to develop a successor to the E-4B Nightwatch “doomsday plane,” Reuters reported, leaving privately-held defense contractor Sierra Nevada as the only known company seeking the contract.
Boeing (BA) and the Air Force reportedly could not reach an agreement on data rights or contract terms, with the company unwilling to sign any new fixed-price agreement that locks it into paying costs above an agreed limit, after it suffered billions of dollars in losses in recent years on fixed-price development programs that include NASA’s Starliner and the next Air Force One.
The Air Force currently operates four E-4B aircraft with at least one on alert at all times; the fleet of highly-modified Boeing (BA) 747-200 jumbo jets date from the 1970s, and have become increasingly difficult and expensive to maintain as parts become obsolete.
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